Growing High
by Killie159
Summary: High School AU. Five friends been together ever since pre-k, they are still as close as ever. These friends consist of Rachel "Raven" Roth, Kori "Starfire" And'r, Garfield "Beast Boy" Logan, Victor "Cyborg" Stone, and Richard "Robin" Grayson. But with problems around school such as rumors, sports, changing of cliques, and more, how is this going to affect them as a whole?
1. Prologue

Growing High: Prologue

 **A/N 1: Hey! I am back for now, and I am here on making a new story! I know I have like two others to finish, but this has been bothering me for a while. I decided on reading once again some Teen Titans stories and I realize that there really isn't much RobRae anymore, I have seen like only a couple recently but other than that there is none. Nada. I am quite sad, but hey what can I actually do about it? So I decided because I have more knowledge about them, I decided to make this story. Hopefully you enjoy this! Read, Favorite, Follow, Review, whatever you do.**

 _Italics: Flashbacks_

 **Disclaimer: I don't own them.**

#1

 _"Is someone sit'n here?' asked a shy voice._

 _The little ebony haired boy looked up from his drawing book to see a violet haired little girl looking at the ground shyly. He looks around the table that used to contain three other people, but after hearing it was nap time, they abandoned everything they were doing and ran towards the sleeping mats. He looks up at the adorable girl, and starts smiling nodding his head to the girl. She smiles back at him._

 _That was a start of a strong friendship._

#2

 _The soft tone of music floating around the beautifully decorated room. With Bruno Mars'_ _ **Talking To The Moon**_ _making the mood into a somewhat emotional atmosphere for everyone. Icy blue eyes gazed around the disco covered white room at all the dancers. He looks over his friends who seem are having for more fun than he is at that moment._

 _ **'I know you're somewhere out there**_

 _ **'Somewhere far away'**_

 _ **'I want you back'**_

 _ **I want you back'**_

 _The young black haired boy looked around the room, just wishing that he had asked his best friend to accompany him to the school dance. It was the last dance of his eighth grade year and was about to become a high schooler soon with all his friends. And her._

 _He smiled just with the thought of her. He has had a crush on her for a while now, he just didn't have the guts to tell her. He looked down at himself. Even if she did say yes to him, what does she like about him: his ebony hair is always a dull mess unlike Gar's shining blonde hair that stays down without him even trying, his body is like a stick no muscle like Victor, and he isn't the 'talking about his feelings' type of person either. He sighs with regret taking a seat at the farthest empty table and just continues to look around the room._

#3

 _There is thirty seconds left on the clock. Richard sprints to the endzone, left opened with no defense on him, he starts yelling that he is open. The football that was thrown by the Quarterback goes straight to him; he runs catching the ball diving into the endzone. The horn goes off and the crowd goes wild! Gotham High School defeats their rival Metropolis High School: 29 to 28. Victor, Roy, Gar, and the rest of the team run towards Richard tackling him with hugs and congratulations._

 _Even with all those screaming of congratulations, he was able to differentiate_ _ **her**_ _voice._

 _"Holy Crap Grayson! I think it was worth coming and watching the game then! You were amazing out there!"_

 _He turns to see Rachel, Kori, and Karen running toward the guys with big smiles (or at least Rachel's rare small smile). Something that is not common, Rachel goes up to him and hugs him; it's not that he was shocked, he was just so happy, he froze. But before he could return her embrace, she let go and looked out to the football field and found Jason Todd, her boyfriend._

 _"Jason!"_

 _Said person takes off his helmet and runs towards his girlfriend, who's running toward him, hugging her and lifting her off the turf field._

 _She lifted her head off his chest and said "You were amazing Jason!" With that sentence, she gave him a passionate kiss in front of everyone, including Richard. Everyone were 'awwing' at their cuteness, but they didn't see that one pair of icy blue eyes sadden as he saw his best friend and his adoptive brother lock lips in front of them. He looks away instead._

#4

 _Richard was taking his books out of his backpack placing it into his locker and getting his football equipment, closing his locker meeting the blue almost violet eyes of his best friend Rachel and secret crush._

 _"Hey Richard. Are you busy after school?" asked Rachel, clutching her books to her chest. She was a bit hesitant of talking to him. It's been a while since the two of them have had a conversation by themselves. It just seems really weird for him to not talk to her, especially when she told him that she liked Jason as more than a friend. After telling him about it, he seemed to change his attitude, making excuses about being too busy to talk or just hang out with her like they used to do._

 _His heart pounded faster after hearing her voice. Is he avoidng her? Yes, he is avoiding her; it wasn't like he wanted to, but he can't bare looking at her and Jason being happy together and him being alone. But he wasn't alone anymore, he's kind of dating Barbara, another long known friend who recently moved back from a visit around the West Side for universities. They decided to talk again and have found their connection that was broken a long time ago, restored. Everyone thought that they are together, so might as well play along with that rumor too. 'That won't ruin anything right?' he thought._

 _He silently sighs, and turns to face her once again. "I don't know if I can hang out with you right now... I promised Babs that we could hang out tonight though... Maybe next time?" he ended his lie with a nervous smile. He gets the rest of his things, and leaves without looking back at her, he couldn't bare to see the sadness that is being reflected in her eyes._

 _"Okay, maybe next time we can..."_

 **A/N 3: I know after reading this may seem a bit confusing I understand because this was just drafted recently and I haven't had time to proof read it and stuff. But I promise to you it will get better later on and this will actually help more for the next chapter with characters and conflict. This takes in High School (I am a high school student so that is why I made this story and I know what is happening in this world like a lot!), and they do not have powers. There are some clues in relationships and Barbara and Dick are not in a relationship, they have more of a brother and sister kind of think going on this story, but people could interpret it in different ways as they want.**

 **IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE!**

 **A/N 2: I apologize for those readers who are reading and enjoy** _ **This is Between Us, Not Everyone, I know I have been lagging with that story and I have a reason. Honestly, now a days I have been watching more of the Flash and rewatching Teen Titans (I basically grew up watching this show!) and I have been losing inspiration as of writing that story. But what I can do it, remaking the story for just only focusing on Young Justice (b/c Arrow has been becoming worse! Why did they have to kill off Laurel! Why?!) I still love the fighting scenes though they are amazing... But going back to what we are talking about yes! I am just leaving it like that for now and hopefully I could hopefully pick it up again and finish it somewhere during the summertime.**_

 _ **~Killie159**_


	2. Hello High School, Goodbye Dear Friend!

Hello High School, Goodbye Dear Old Friend!

 **A/N #1: Hello again! I am happy to hear that there are some people who actually like the first chapter of this story. I am glad because the more people liking it, the faster I could update it. A couple of people were confused with the first chapter and yes I did it on purpose. It's purpose was to explain the relationship and memories that both Dick and Rachel (or aka Robin and Raven) have had growing up. I know this also may be confusing but next chapter I will explain how this all happened. And I promise there will be more of Rachel's point of view and actual RobRae interaction later on. So let us actually continue with the story shall we!**

 **Disclaimer: Not mine!**

* * *

Italics: Memories '...': thoughts "...": speech

Ah, high school. It is said that your high school years are the one you never want to forget; you meet new friends and you sadly let go of your old ones. There is so much excitement around the school: sports, rallies, dances, competitions, etc. But none of that was really what Richard Grayson was looking forward, he was forward seeing all his friends, including his best friend, Rachel Roth. When he told her that he was going to try out for the Varsity football team as a freshman, she seemed quite hesitant on letting him do so...

 _Rachel scrunched her nose in thought and finally sighing, "Dick, do you really think that's a good idea?"_

 _Her best friend's eyes widened and smiled, "Of course it's an amazing idea! If Bruce did it when he was in high school and in college, why can't I do it?"_

 _He noticed her eyes sadden and how she started biting her lip, when he said the name of his guardian. She looked up at him and said, "Why do you want to be like him?" It was no secret to him that Rachel and his guardian do not get along. After hearing of her father's human trafficking group being arrested a year ago, Bruce had the fear that she would follow her father's footsteps and would hurt his son was incredibly paranoid and wouldn't want her near him. But as stubborn as Richard is, he doesn't follow his rules. Richard sighed and takes her hands in his "It's not like I am going to be like him, you know. He doesn't have any friends, I have you... and the others."_

 _She doesn't seem to be convinced, she's still biting her lip. Richard looks at her with admiring eyes. He lifts his hand to take her lip from her pearl white teeth. Rachel arches an eyebrow at the action. "What'll convince you that I won't become like Bruce?"_

 _Rachel's answer is something that he will keep in his heart forever. "I want you to be you."_

* * *

 _B_ ut after two years of being himself, she still doesn't notice him. The irony of everything is that she began dating his adoptive brother Jason, who wants to be like Bruce, at the beginning of sophomore year. When she told him that she had feelings for Jason, it broke him. He's seen how those two acted around each other; Jason tries to flirt with her, but she seemed to ignore him. But when she told him, that she liked Jason, he was depressed and became cold and emotionless. And now as a junior, he changed; no longer one of the shortest people in the group, but the second tallest after Victor. His icy blue eyes were dim yet bright, his face serious and lips always in some kind of indifference. His ebony black hair pulled back. He was a player both on and off the football field. He was known to date a lot of girls; it was never about love, more like not wanting to feel lonely, even if it is sleeping with them. He just wanted to see if he could eliminate that feeling of betrayal that he still has in his heart when he sees his brother and his heart was in the most pain when he found out that they started dating...

 _Walking into school in the morning, he first notices that people were looking at him and whispering into each other's ears pointing at him and quickly putting their hands down to their sides. He ignores the stares and walks up to Victor, who was putting his football equipment and taking out his AP Physics 2 textbook from his locker._

 _"Vic, what's going on here? What's up with everyone?"_

 _Said person stops doing what he was doing and slowing closes his locker and faced Richard. Victor opens his mouth and closes trying to word his explanation. He ends up sighing. "Man, I don't... I know that you are in love with Rae, but this's somethin' you should ask her."_

 _Richard scrunched his brows and opened his mouth to ask what he meant but was interrupted by a smooth female voice belonging to Kori, a tall model-exchange student from England*._

 _"Dick, Rachel is dating your brother."_

 _The scrunched brows raised up and his icy blue eyes widened after hearing the statement. He could hear his heart break inside his chest._

* * *

"Hey Dicky, have y'seen Rae by any chance?"

'Speaking of the Devil' Richard thought. Richard turns around and faces his brother, Jason Todd. He looks just like Richard, but has a small patch of white hair on top of his widow's peak. He is known to be the trouble maker with a GPA of 3.1, while Richard's the good-two-shoes, with a GPA of 3.9, but it still seems that he is behind. Richard kept his face neutral and answering with a annoyed "No. Does it look like I take care of your girlfriend?" Jason was not amused with the way Richard answered him. He grimaced at him and scoffed "Wow! You have some nerve to say Raven's name in vain, Dick. Last time, I remember you were the one who had the major crush on her. Do you not remember or were you just trying to lead her on like every other chick you've dated?" Richard, who still looked at Jason emotionless, saw a glimpse of violet coming their way. He averted his eyes and walked away from him without an answer, with his hands clenched on his hips.

* * *

"Yo Rich? You a'right?" Richard, who was changing into his practice uniform, turned to look at Victor, Roy, and Garth looking at him with confusion in their eyes. He tries to fake a smile, but it ends up being a fake smirk instead.

He scoffs, "Yeah, I'm good. Why ask?" and there was silence for a minute or two.

Roy was the one who broke the silence. "You seem more tense." Other than Jason, Roy was like the brother Richard never had, they had more in common than he and Jason. Roy was an inch shorter than him. He has red hair and blue eyes. He was quarterback of the football team, but not only does he have good aim with a football, but also with a bow and arrows.

Garth adds "Yeah, not only that, but I also saw how you were nearly going to punch Jason during lunch. What's up with you two?" Garth is known to be the peacekeeper of the group, despite him being one of the best defense they have for football, but also enjoys the feeling of being in the pool. He is as tall as Roy, but has black hair like Richard, with brown almost black eyes. He is not much of a talker, but could be violent if is necessary. Richard rolls his eyes at their worry, "Nothing is wrong, now if you'll excuse me, I don't want to stay here longer than what's actually needed." And walks away.

Outside the football field, he sees Jason talking to his girlfriend, Rachel, who is reading through her AP Chemistry textbook preparing for a test the next day and replying to his responses. To Richard it looks like Rachel told Jason something, causing him to look back and see Richard, he grimaced. Richard rolled his eyes at the pair and ran to the turf where the rest of the team were at. Everyone sees him as a tough guy, but in reality, he is broken in the inside. He misses her a lot.

* * *

 ***I tried finding a race that would actually fit for her having red hair and I came across finding out that England has a lot of red haired people and for her eyes and tan skin I'm just going to say she's half English and American.**

 **A/N #2: PHEW, two chapters in one weekend! I really am glad that people are liking this story and honestly I am also liking this story as well! I feel this will be one of my best ones also. By the way, I went to watch Captain America: Civil War yesterday. IT WAS AMAZING! I love Steve's and Natasha's friendship/sibling-ship, and because of that, it will help me make the relationship that maybe Babs and Dick have because honestly people could mistake that as a relationship. But other than that, please keep favoring, following, and reviewing it helps me keep up with the story and yada yada.**

 **A/N 3:(6/6/2016) LOL I should be working on a new chapter for this, but I couldn't help read reviews for this and I decided to fix a lot of the things that I should have had in the chapter in the first place, but I didn't so I put it in now! I will be working on the next chapter some time today do not worry it will be up in the next few days hopefully latest would be Thursday!**

 **~Killie 159**


	3. I Miss Your Everything

**Chapter 3: I Miss Your Everything**

 **A/N 1:** **Hello! Finally this is an actual chapter being posted, I just needed to fix the previous chapter because thanks to** **The Reviewer** **, he/she notice some mistakes of the layout of Chapter 2. I fixed them and I added (and deleted) some minor things also adding another memory! On that note, left continue with the story.**

 **Disclaimer: Todavia no es mio. (Still isn't mine.)**

* * *

Noices are heard all around the football field: body equipment colliding to another, the grunting after the collisions, the cackling made when the cleats are in the turf, swish when the wide receiver is tackled to the ground. A whistle is blown after the tackle,

"Grayson! What was that?!" exclaimed the coach, walking toward the play that did not include the wide receiver being tackled. "I told you not to go to the left, I told you to make a 'L' cut in the right, then go diagonal to avoid the defense. This is the third time you made that same mistake."

Getting up from the bottom, he took off his helmet. He looked into the coach's eyes. "Sorry Coach."

"Sorry isn't gonna to stop you from repeating a mistake that nearly cost us a winning game Grayson. It's either that you get your head in the game and take it out of the clouds, or sit out. Now, I want you sitting out."

"But Coach-"

"No buts! Sit out now. At the bleachers."

With a sigh, he slouched his way to the bleachers and sat down.

"You know, he's right. Something is wrong with you, which doesn't surprise me. Do you want to talk about it, Richard?" asked a sweet yet monotone voice.

He tensed up hearing her voice. "There's nothing wrong with me, I just messed up the play. I know there are alternate plays if that were to happen in a real situation." growled Richard

Footsteps were heard as Rachel walked down the bleachers, sitting next to Richard. Richard had his head down to avoid looking at her cold beauty. He felt the remains of his sweat increase once again as he avoids her calculating stare. He avoids this stare because he knows it really well; like when she's doing a chemistry problem, she'd find a way to start that has enough evidence to make a novel out of it.

"I said I'm fine. I don't need advice from you right now."

"Richard, look at me. Look into my eyes, truthfully tell me that you're alright. You're my best friend I think we still are. i know I've been busy with Mainstreet*, Chem, Calc, and other shit, but just tell me what's wrong, I want to see the happy Dick that I knew, not this depressed Dick. So I ask again, what's wrong?" At this point, she grabbed his hand and laced their hands together, still trying to get his attention.

Richard, on the other hand, was trying to calm down and keep an indifferent mask but when she laced her fingers with his, he couldn't keep that mask up. 'I have to try. I have to move on from her. She doesn't care about me, she's like her dad... but she's not like him. She's intelligent, athletic, beautiful, different, "special, unique" he whispered unknowingly.

"Richard."

Said person looks up after hearing his name is said. MISTAKE! He gazes into the sapphire-amethyst irises, pulling him into his heaven. "Rachel... I'm, I'm sorry I've been so... so distracted. But really nothing is wrong with me I swear." To prove his point, he gave her one of his most handsomest smile that would swoon every girl and squeezed her hand (that he noticed) still laced with his.

Her rare smile bloomed on her thin pale lips, "Okay. But if you are feeling well just talk to me and I'll be your ears like always." She took her hand out and gave him a tight hug. He wrapped his arms tightly around her small waist, silently inhaling her rose smell, imagining that he could just kiss her and run his fingers through her short black hair.

But like always, their moment was ruined from afar...

* * *

After practice ended, the football team lined out to get to the locker room and leave, but only two stayed behind to look at the image of their best friends hugging.

"Look at that, Vic! Our Richie there is trying to put his moves on our Rae-Rae. What do you think about that?" said a smirking Roy.

Victor, on the other hand, crossed his bulky arms and had a frown on his face. "If he even tries to 'put his moves' on her, he knows what'll happen to him. The consequences are brutal in this situation."

The smirk on Roy's face quickly fades as a confused expression is plastered on his face. "What? I thought that you always wanted them two together ever since Dick told us that he had feelings for her in 7th grade! What changed?"

"Dick's reputation changed, Roy. He's not the same sweet, innocent 7th grader that we knew. He's just one of those players y'know. He plays with girls all the time, just 'cause he and Rae had a history in the past, doesn't mean he'll be the same old Dick. Dude managed to screw around with half the girls in our grade, what's good about that?" explained Victor.

"I know, but maybe somewhere inside, there still is that innocent Richard John Grayson that we all know and love. Don'tcha think?"

* * *

After the hug, Richard and Rachel sat next to each other laughing, smiling, having fun just the way they used to have before. Both never realized that a certain someone was observing them.

"Ey' Jay, you jealous?"

Jason scoffed and rolled his eyes (a certain trait that was taught by him by his girlfriend), "Nah, my brother's been one hell of a jerk for a while. But it's... nice to y'know see him smiling again. As for Rach... I know and I trust her, she wouldn't do any of that shit."

His companion glared at the couple, "What if she ever cheats on you? How would'ya react?"

Jason stares at the guy. "What are you trying to get Handy Andy*? You saying that she's cheated on me? Cause I know she wouldn't."

The buff senior, Andy Vides, smirked at the younger junior. "Havent' you heard, 'Rach' has a thing with big brother, Richie."

Jason knew even before he and Rachel got together, that his friends always seemed to push Richard to grow some guts and ask Rachel out. But after Jason and Rachel got together, it seemed sort of awkward with Richard and Rachel being together, as if they pitied Richard always siding with him.

Sighing at the view "Honestly, I question my relationship with her even after we got together."

* * *

 ***Mainstreet Chorus is a class that is in my school, it is known to take a lot of time off a person's schedule. They get to travel around the world performing. They're really good**

 ***Handy Andy: It is a nickname that I give my who's name is Andy, but his last name is not Vides. My friend does not like that nickname either. LOL**

 **A/N 2: Ta-Da! I hope you enjoyed that RobRae fluff! It took me a while to write it, even if I love this pairing with a passion. I will update hopefully by next week or sooner depending on life. Keep favoring, following, reviewing and enjoy summer!**

 **~Killie159**


	4. What I've Done

**Growing High Ch.4**

 **What I've Done**

 **A/N 1: I saw TMNT 2 last week, and I loved it! Other than that... let's continue on... :)**

 **Disclaimer: Not mine.**

* * *

Jason sighed once he got into Richard's Black Dodge Charger; he just wants some peace and quiet, especially away from Richard. He knew better than to be jealous, he knew that Rachel is loyal, but after talking to Andy, he felt something in the pit of his stomach, something so familiar yet foreign: fear. he feared that she'll abandon him like his biological parents did all those years ago. He feared that she'll leave him for someone who isn't as damaged as he is and that she'd be more happier with them than how she was with him. He knows it sounds childish, but she helped him with so much, not only with his grades, she helped him with his temper, his attitude, his bad habits. She is one of the best things that happened to with him; without her ever entering his life, he'd be a goner by now.

* * *

Richard climbs in the driver's seat, looking towards his brother but ended up furrowing his eye brows at him at his brother's facial expression: pale and confused. He put his hand on Jason's shoulder squeezing it to get his attention.

jason snapped out of his line of thought facing his brother with a blank expression and a small snarl. "What?"

Richard raised his eyebrow at Jason, confused at his sudden attitude. 'He hasn't acted this way ever since freshman year.' Looking toward the front window, he started the car and drove to Wayne Manor.

"What's wrong?"

Jason rolled his eyes. 'Typical Grayson, always wanting to be the hero. I wouldn't be surprised if Rae decides to be with him.' "Nothing's wrong. I just wanna go home, shower, and do my work."

"Do you have a lot?"

"No shit."

"You're in half my classes; we don't have homework for English or History."

"I have a study session with Rae."

"Really?"

"Really." Jason bit the inside of his cheek to prevent him from lashing out at his brother.

"For what class?"

"Math."

"She's in Calculus."

"Are you calling me stupid?"

Richard sighed, irritated with Jason's sudden attitude. To make things more lighter, he decided to just joke around. He smirked and jokingly said, "Okay who's the guy who made pissed. Was he talking to Rae. Let me guess you're jealous?"

But that comment was given a serious answer. "What's it to you? Are you going to tell Rae? Then give'er a 'friendly hug' and not let go of her?"

Richard's eyes widened. "You saw that?"

Jason grunted. "The whole football team saw it, _Dick_."

"It was just a friendly hug, that's all."

"Why does that sound like a lie to me?"

The rest of the drive had been silent. Once they got home, Jason quickly got out grabbing his backpack with his equipment and went towards the front door. Unlike Richard, he took his time thinking about what the whole team saw. It was no secret that Jason and Richard had had tension ever since Jason got together with Rachel, but it seemed as there was also tension between Richard and Rachel even before the relationship.

Feeling a buzz from his phone, he took it out seeing that it was from Abigail Lewis, some cheerleader who has the hots for him.

 **AL: Are you busy tonight?**

As he read the message, he thought should he go to her house.

 **RG: Are your parents home?**

 **AL: No. Got the whole house to myself. I feel a bit lonely, maybe you can keep me company...**

The playboy persona slipped and he started devilishly smirking. He shrugged and decided to go.

 **RG: Yeah. Be there in 15 min.**

Looking up the house, he decided to leave his stuff behind and go to Abigail's for a bit.

* * *

After he ran into the house, Jason directly went, ignoring his guardians and butler*, to his room. Once he got in, he threw his things onto his red bed sheet covered mattress and walked to this bathroom opening his mirror, taking out a bottle of Zoloft* taking two in his mouth, swallowing them. Seconds later he felt drowsy, he walked over to his bed not caring if his stuff are in the way. He heard knocking and didn't even bother answering it. The bottle of Zoloft was left carelessly on the floor next to him. He saw a shadow moving towards him.

* * *

After watching her boyfriend and talking to his brother during their football practice, Rachel felt a bit relieved knowing that Richard isn't upset with her, but he seems to be distracted with something and as his best friend it is her duty to know what's wrong with him. And not only Dick, but something was bothering Jason as well. When she tried talking to Jason, he ignored her and walked toward the locker room without glancing back at her. It's always him who ran to her giving her a tight hug ignoring her pleas of not wanting to smell and silencing her with a passionate kiss. But now, he ignored her causing her to feel confused and a bit hurt.

Once she got home, she greeted her mother and walked to her room. Laying out all her things from her backpack, she started doing her homework for two hours. After those two hours, her mother came into Rachel's room with a cup of herbal tea and a vegetarian sandwich, putting on the nightstand and sat down on the black and purple bed sheet covered bed. Rachel had not noticed her mother was next to her, which is quite strange for her daughter always could tell if someone is getting close to her.

"Raven*, are you okay?"

Hearing her nickname, said person jumped and faced her mother, Arella. Getting over of the scare, she looked at her mother smiling as if saying "I'm okay." Arella soothingly rubbed Rachel's back to calm her and get an answer out of her. And it worked!

Rachel sighs, " I am Arella. It's just... I don't know... It's just Jason. I'm noticing that he's been avoiding me in these couple of days. I've been telling him during school that I have to study but I'll catch up with him later. A-and I am not cheating on him. I'm using with Donna, Nicole, Toni and Roy*, but sometimes it seems like he doesn't believe me, like I am going to leave him or something." Rachel took a pause before continuing, "But it's not just Jase, it's also Dick who's been avoiding me and today I had to confront him to get an answer on why he's been... been such a dick for the past year, not the sweet Richard I used to know."

"Did he give you an answer?"

Rachel looked down to her socks answering, "Yeah, he said he's been busy with school and football..."

"And you don't believe that?" "I don't."

Arella nodded as she understood her daughter's complication. She knew for years that both Richard and Jason had had feelings for her only child, but 'secretly' wanted Richard to be with the one to be with Raven. When she came home one night and found Jason with Raven, she was shocked at first, but the boy seemed to change; no more acting out, but seems to be focusing on what he believes in important to him. But Arella is still determined find out more on the situation.

"What do you think Richard has actually been distracted with?"

"I try to ignore the gossip around school, but seemed to cloud my judgement at time. People say he's been screwing around with so many girls in school, one girl one day, the next with another girl. People are always going around telling _me_ this as if I'm his girlfriend and expect me to do something about it! Yes, I would do something about as his best friend but he's been ignoring me not the other way around and-"

Her eyes widened finally understanding Richard's bizarre attitude towards her for the past year. She looked at her mother with wide eyes and a gaping mouth dreading the next words coming out of her mouth.

"Richard is in love with me."

Arella sympathetically pats Rachel's black and purple hair giving her a sad smile and a nod as an answer to her question.

* * *

 ***Guardians and Butler: Bruce Wayne, Selina Kyle, and Alfred Pennyworth**

 ***Zoloft: An antidepressant used mostly for those who have PTSD. It helps symptoms of depression and anxiety. It also helps give the user better sleep.**

 ***Only her mother calls her that in this story kay. It's basically a nickname to Rachel.**

 ***Donna: Wonder Girl; Nicole: Jinx (It is her actual alias), Toni: Argent, Roy: Speedy.**

 **A/N 2: Wow. Actually full of something right! But never mind that, I finally given you guys not only Richard's perspective but also Jason's and Rachel's as well. Hope you guys liked this chapter and see you guys next time. Enjoy Summer 2016!**

 **~Killie 159**


	5. Hypothesis Needs Evidence, Right?

Growing High Ch. 5

Hypothesis Needs Evidence, Right?

 **A/N 1: I know there must be some confusion with the randon burst conclusion that I wrote for Rachel, but this was written on purpose. Due to the fact that I made her character interested in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) fields, they usually do jump into one hypothesis only; so I wrote because of that, but also at the end, they try to find to find evidence and if the evidence does support their hypothesis, then they're right and if not then they change it. Do not worry, there will be twists that'll cause Rachel's (and everybody's) view on Richard (in a good or in a bad way). Now let's get started!**

 **Disclaimer: Teen Titans belong to their owners.**

* * *

Feeling like he's been hit by an angry bull, Jason woke up a bit out of it and confused that he was not surrounded by his gray, mediocre walls with the smell of Alfred's blueberry muffins and Helena's* muffled crying, but is surrounded with white walls, the smell of potent medicines and the beeping of the machines connected to his right arm. He stared at the wire with scared wide eyes and looked around panicked ignoring the beeping getting louder and faster matching his current heart. Hearing the door knob turn, he looked up expecting the person to be Bruce, but is met with an unfamiliar face. He calmed himself not wanting to alarm himself and the unfamiliar face. The nurse, he assumes, is a young woman in her late twenties who has brown hair and matching eyes covered by reading glasses.

The nurse smiles at the patient as she notices him looking at her as if she's an intruder. She clears her throat and walks toward the bed snapping him out of his thoughts. Opening her mouth to introduce herself, she was beaten by the boy.

"Ms. Emerald Isles."

Hearing her name spoken by the boy instead of herself surprised her enough, yet she was intrigued by his sudden change of behavior. A few minutes ago, he seemed so confused and slightly frightened, yet now he is calm but cautious about why the nurse is here. Clearing her throat once again she spoke.

"Yes, I am Nurse Isles. And you must be Jason Todd. I am glad that you have woken up in perfect condition. And you seem to be healthy, so I must ask why did you take the Zoloft in the first place? You do know the harms of taking this strong antidepressant medication, correct?"

Jason frowned at the nurse, glaring at her as she practically called him a junkie*, reminding him that his biological parents were junkies as well before they died of drug overuse.

He snarled at her, "I know the danger of drugs, 'kay. I used the Zoloft to calm me down and help my depression. Plus I can't get any damn sleep... All I want now a days is sleep, but I don't know why I'm here..." Trailing off, he covered his face with his hands and falling back to the rough pillow. He felt tears burning in the back of his eyes, "I just want to sleep forever and never wake up again... No one will miss me either way right? They all will care for him. He's a someone, and I'm no one. I just don't want to deal with anything anymore. I want to sleep forever."

The nurse just looks at the helpless teen, who was on the verge of weeping. She sighs and puts at comforting hand on the sobbing boy's shoulder. "You don't have to go through this alone, you have family who will help you through this right?"

After hearing 'family', he looked up and furiously shook his head. "No, no, no, no, no, NO! You can't tell them anything! I-i-if they find out, then I'll be to Arkham Asylum again! I am not a junkie I swear! I just need help. Send me to a therapist, psycologist, psychiatrist for all I care! Just don't please, don't send me to Arkham! I don't want to go please!"

Emerald was quite overwhelmed on how a teenager is reacting to this. She didn't want to hurt the boy more, but she has seen his records both medical and criminal. He was know to get in fights, he did do drugs for a small period of time; the usual things teenagers were known to do. But what caught her attention was his adoption papers, he was brought into the adoption agency after his parents died of drug overuse, but found a number of bruises on the three year old boy. He was fostered by differnt number of families, but they sent him back due to his violent temper, but she was quite surprised that this family who has taken him for almost 14 years have taken care of him and how good he turned out, well almost.

She gave him a small, sad smile and got up. She looked back at him, "I will recommend somewhere else if you want me to okay?"

He didn't give him an answer, just looked down at his hands.

She closed the door after.

* * *

Walking into Gotham High's main hallway, Rachel looks blankly forward ignoring the people's whispers and pointing, until she sees a familiar red-head female, who's peaking into her locker checking her equipment, that she used to call her 'best' friend, but they still are close but not like they used to be when they were younger*, so the perfect term to use is just friend. She walks toward the red-head tapping her left shoulder to get her attention.

The red-head turns attention from her wrestling* equipment to the person who was tapping her shoulder. She was a bit surprised, but it erased away to be replaced by her usual joy and glee. She grabs the weaker girl and crushes her in a bear hug.

"Rachel! Oh, how I missed you so dearly much!"

Said person just stood there taking in the embrace, smiling a bit; she missed her hugs though she would deny it and tell Kori not to hug her. She chuckles at her friend's naivety, but returns the embrace as well feeling Kori tighten her arms around her.

"I missed you too Kori. Now let go of me please."

The cheerleader turnt wrestler released Rachel and gave her a sweet smile giggling, "My apologies, Rachel." Kori notices her companion's eyes are a bit dimmer than usual and was a bit distracted. "How have you been?"

Rachel opens her mouth then closes it to find an answer. 'How am I doing?' she asks herself. She shakes her head to clear her mind and instead simply answers, "I've been doing fine. How about you? I heard that you and Garth might be a thing?"

Despite being absent around Kori and her clique of jocks/cheerleaders, her relationship status seems to matter when she last broke up with Roy. Guys asked her out as 'comfort' and girls would just simply make up 'reasons' on why they did break up. Rachel once heard that Roy cheated on Kori with Donna and another time she heard the Kori's been cheating on Roy with multiple guys including Garth and Richard.

 _Richard..._ Now he has been one of everybody's (besides Rachel and those close to him) favorite person to gossip about. One thing that was explicitly discussd about him is his sex life. Not his love life, but his sex life. Donna explained to Rachel that all Richard's been looking for no string attached one night stands and if you're lucking, he'll actually consider you as an aquaintance.

"...but to answer your question. Yes Garth and I are what they say... an 'it-em'. I do not understand you Americans at times with twisting simple words changing their meanings into something irrelevant." Kori took a small pause as she stares an the distracted Rachel, who was staring at something else where. "Friend Rachel... Rachel... Rae?" She puts her hand on the pale girl's shoulder to get her attention this time.

Said person snapped out of her thinking, feeling bad for not listening to Kori as she was talking about her new, happy relationship with Garth. "I'm sorry, Kori. But I am really happy that you're happy, out of everyone here you deserve to be happy." Giving her a last small smile, she politely excuses herself to go to her first period. Feeling her phone vibrate, she takes it out looking at the message sent from Jason.

 **JT: Hey, I'm not going to school today...**

Rachel playfully rolled her eyes at her phone. For the time, she's known Jason when he says that he isn't coming to school it's to stay home, show binge forgetting about school and football. Right when she going to message him back he sent another message.

 **JT: Or possibly in a while...**

That caught her attention quickly. She was worried about him. She has been for a while now. She unconciously stopped walking causing her bump into something or someone.

"Hey! Watch where the fuck you're going Roth!" said a female voice.

Before Rachel was able to answer her boyfriend once again, she turned to the owner of the voice. Meeting olive green eyes full of annoyance. The platinum blonde haired girl looked at Rachel waiting for an apology. Rachel wasn't paying attention to the girl rather to the person next to her: Richard. Icy blue eyes met her blue-violet unattentionally, ignoring the girl next to him, who is currently trying to start something with Rachel.

"Well, I'm waiting for a fucking apology, Roth." said the girl, Abigail Lewis, who's basically trying to kill Rachel with her eyes.

Rachel breaks eye contact with Richard and looks at Abigail simply saying, "You're not getting one from me." and walked away from them. But this wasn't what was bothering her, she still didn't know what was wrong with her boyfriend. She messaged him back, just wanting to know that he is safe and okay.

 **RR: What happened?**

 **JT: I took Zoloft again...**

Rachel was shocked; he hasn't taken any kind of medication ever since he started football in freshman year. But maybe something had to trigger his depression but what could it be?

* * *

To say Jason felt terrible this morning is an understatement. Richard found him passed out on his bed with the medication on the floor, he then called Bruce in and after that it was all black. And now that he's going to be sent to the one place he doesn't want to be. Arkham Asylum. That place is like hell. It is said that the Asylum is to help people, it truly makes makes a person close to becoming insane. And now that he is going to be sent there, he didn't know how to feel. Hearing the ping of his iPhone, he sees it's from Rachel asking why he took it in the first place after all those years of not depending on it. Did he truly want to tell her the reason? That he was scared she'd leave him for someone who'd understand her as she talked excitedly about chemistry or calculus? Someone who's less traumatized than himself? Someone that's the complete opposite of himself like Richard? Her leaving him for Richard is something that broke his heart, but he had to face the truth...

After all this time that Richard and Rachel have known each other, there was always a connection that they had. They understood each other, they were always each other's shoulder to cry on, just always so perfect with each other.

He felt tears start coming out and he did something that he knew would hurt him more than her. He decided to let go of her for someone else who is willing to take care of her when he's not there. So he started typing,

 **JT: I know that right now, you may be wondering why I decided to take the pill. The truth is that I'm afraid. I'm afraid that you'll get bored of me and abandon me like my parents and hurt me like the way they did to me. I know this is a coward move by just texting you instead of talking to you face to face, but that's who I am a coward; something that is completely nothing like you, Rae. I love you with all my heart. I love your beauty, the small smile you have when you're reading your math or science textbook, the mixture of all blues and purples that make up your eyes, the sharp witty and sarcasm that you always have. I may not be the brightest guy you know, but that didn't matter to you. Yesterday after taking the pill, Dick came into my room and saw me get fucked up on the pill. I heard him call for Bruce and everything after that... I don't know what happened... Just know that I always will love you and I will support your decision if you decide to go to Dick...**

He stopped there trying to tell Rachel the rest of the story of this morning of what happened. So he simply added that he was going to be sent to Arkham Asylum and he may not be back. But he promised her that he will continue his education, and will become what he wants to be, a bounty hunter. He through his phone to the side table next to him and closed his eyes falling back to sleep, the last thing in his mind was her face.

* * *

Walking to her first period class, she sat next to Garfield Logan, a young blonde boy with blue eyes who played in the Varsity Soccer team and was one of the class clowns (she never admits to him) and on the other side of her was Roy Harper, her best friend and confidante, who currently was leaning back on his seat looking at her with a confused expression as she through her phone down on her desk and put her hands onto her face. Her shoulders started to shake and she breathed out a sigh and controlled herself before she planned on breaking down.

Roy leaned back in his seat and looked at her with concern. He took her phone without her permission (he usually does that and she does that back to him for 'revenge') and opens her messages, reading her messages with Jason. He put down the phone and put a comfort hand on her shoulder. And as he did that, he felt her shaking and she leaned down to put her face into his chest, quietly crying. He wrapped his arms around her and stroked her hair not caring about those around them.

* * *

 ***Helena Wayne is actually the daughter of Selina Kyle and Bruce Wayne in one of the DC universes**

 ***In reality, people drift apart but they sometimes do talk to each other (key word sometimes)**

 ***I feel like cheer is a bit overrated despite the actual character. Koriand'r is known to be a sweet, joyful character, but I also wanted to give credit to her amazing alien strength and that she is a female... so defeating stereotypes right?**

 **A/N 2: There you go guys chapter 5 of Growing High! The last small part of Rachel crying is actually to show that she really does love Jason and the fact that he has to leave everything behind is heartbreaking. I'm going to be honest with ya'll, this made me sad as well. I love Jason's character and he will be seen later, but for now he'll just be mention. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter and hopefully the next chapter will be up sooner rather than later. I'll see you all later for a new chapter!**

 **~Killie159**


	6. IMPORTANT NEWS

**CHANGE OF PLANS!**

 **IMPORTANT!**

 **HEY GUYS, THIS ACTUALLY ISN'T A NEW CHAPTER, SADLY. I KNOW IT'S BEEN A WHILE SINCE I'VE MADE A NEW CHAPTER AND I HAVE AN EXPLANATION FOR IT OKAY. SO I HAVE TWO OTHER STORIES TO UPDATE AND I DON'T WANT TO STOP WRITING THEM EITHER. I ALSO DON'T WANT TO STOP THIS ONE SO THIS ONE WILL BE IN A TEMPORARY HIATUS FOR NOW OR IT COULD PERMANENT DEPENDING HOW I AM FEELING IN THE FUTURE. DO NOT WORRY THIS ISN'T A GOOD BYE. I WILL IF I AM FEELING IN A GOOD WAY I WILL UPDATE THIS STORY. I AM SORRY TO THOSE WHO LIKE THIS.**

 **ON ANOTHER NOTE, SOMEWHERE IN EARLY AUGUST, THERE WILL BE ANOTHER TEEN TITANS STORY THAT WILL BE UP IN THE FIRST WEEK OF AUGUST I DON'T KNOW WHEN BUT IT WILL BE IN THE FIRST WEEK OF AUGUST.**

 **BUT FOR NOW I WILL GIVE YOU THE SUMMARY OF THE INCOMING STORY:**

 **V**

 **V**

 **SUMMARY: AFTER EACH OF THEM STRUGGLING TO FIND A SAFE PLACE TO LIVE, FOUR YOUNG METAHUMANS TEAM UP TOGETHER TO FIGHT AGAINST THE ANTI-METAS SQUAD. THEY THEM MEET A HUMAN WHO IS WILLING TO HELP THEM ESCAPE THE LAW ENFORCEMENT, ONLY IF HE IS ABLE TO JOIN THEM TO STOP THIS MADNESS.**


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